Voodoo Buwan: All good things, as they say, must come to an end. And, it is with sorry hearts that, for many and varied reasons, this idiom is proving true for Rez Magazine. So, to mark the end of our particular journey covering the best and sometimes not so best that the world of Second Life has to offer, Trin and myself have decided that what better way to finish than by discussing what we have learned, and how we feel that our own little story has panned out.

Trinity Dechou: As many of our longer readers will know, we started Rez in October 2007 with a desire to report from our world of Second Life with some of the best, and occasionally worst things that Second Life has to offer. Our self funded, independent magazine has of course gone from strength to strength and I believe it's fair to say we've loved every minute of it. It is with this sense and as Voodoo says for many reasons that we end on our literary high.

Voodoo Buwan: So, we started out, as you said, to be independent and not-for-profit, and in this I think we definitely succeeded. We called people out when we felt that they might not be carrying out the best laid plans, and we definitely qualified as not-for-profit, for although we carried some adverts in the books, the money from this just about managed to keep us in uploaded images and thinc books, with a little money left over to try to spread the word about what we were doing. The offices and our personal bank balances never saw any kind of monetary influx.

Trinity Dechou: Never swayed by the advertising linden, which never did fill our pockets, we enjoyed spending our hard earned cash on this project of ours, why, simply because we loved it. We both agreed at the start that we wanted to write what we wanted, when we wanted and how we wanted and did not for any second want to be swayed by an advertisers desire. Of course we must thank those of you who did have the occasional advert in our magazines as Voodoo says for helping us to spread the word of Rez to the wider audience it has today.

Voodoo Buwan: Yes, and of course a massive shout out to those who have stuck by us over the years, whether by keeping in check with us and reading the hopefully enjoyable pieces that we put together, putting vendors out to help others discover the joy of Rez, or people like Hamlet Au of New World Notes, who highlighted on his own very popular site, that we were doing stuff worth looking at, and sent more than a few new readers our way.

Trinity Dechou: Of course, without our trusted and growing readership we simply wouldn't be here. We started this project over 2 years ago with a small collective of 50 or so friends which has grown through word of mouth and some wonderful coverage over the past 2 years. We are, and will always be, extremely grateful to each and everyone of you for this support.

Voodoo Buwan: Right, Trinstar, we've done the (frankly well earned) weren't we clever for doing this in the first place, and our gushing Oscar acceptance speech. Never let it be said that we go easy on anyone, even ourselves.... Is there anything you regret about your Rez experience?

Trinity Dechou: I think my main regret/ frustration has been the ability to find, and keep hold of additional writers. When we've created a site which has good feedback, good comments and a growing collective, seeing writers come and go has been a little frustrating. Of course we must thank those who have written for us and have done us proud; Peter Stindberg, Neuron Bandit, Rich Lyle, Efemera Bisiani and lastly, but not least Allanah Tomsen.

Voodoo Buwan: Yes, and a big apology to Allanah who was half way through writing her second article when we came to the decision to call it a day. It's been hard not being able to build up a strong writing team for the Mag, when we have been eager to help those who would want to be part of the collective, and offer a place to unleash your writing talents unto the virtual world. We put posters up at every office and event we could, calling for new writers, but I can't help but feel that the biggest stumbling block, and the reason why so many people contacted us to write, only to never be heard from again,  was that, even though we didn't make any money ourselves from the site, that we didn't offer any kind of pay to our writers.

Trinity Dechou: I must say however, even though this lesson has been learned that I don't regret not offering some form of payment incentive. Rez was born from a desire to write, not a desire to make money, hence our negative bank balances!

Voodoo Buwan: The funny thing of course, is having written for a writing business in SL, and knowing the kind of meagre scraps that the owners allow to fall from their plentiful tables, that we could have easily offered the odd few hundred Linden at random, from my own pocket, and still have been paying above the kind of rates that other sites pay. I guess it's all about image. We chose not to bullshit anyone into thinking they were going to make vast amounts of money working for us, so maybe they went off to people who might.

Trinity Dechou: Well Voo with that said, and our regrets covered, what do you feel you've learned from Rez Magazine?

Voodoo Buwan: Well, the one thing is that the success of an online site such as ours doesn't always necessarily have anything to do with good writing. We absolutely made our job more difficult by not offering advertising space on the site, since sites that do sell themselves to any business with a banner or picture ad also get something more precious than the Lindens that they are handed. They also get big headed business owners showing off to all their friends and loyal customers that they sponsor a page on this site or that mag, or have an advertiorial saying how great they are. And while all this is only so much ego-stroking, it has the effect of getting the name of the site out there.

Trinity Dechou: Yes, I think we quickly learned that in order to get our name out there and raise awareness of what we were doing we'd have to take a different approach. Of course as has been said, linkage from sites such as New World Notes and the ex SLNN helped us immensely to raise awareness. As did the integration of vendors with the magazine and links from other online sites. Of course this was done the old fashioned way with hard work and lots of IMs/ emails rather than having the ability to offer some form of advert in return. We knew that when people linked to articles of ours they did it because they felt the article deemed mention rather than some backhanded compliment because we'd offered a monetary incentive.

Voodoo Buwan: As I've said to you before, it would be so easy to just take the money of advertisers left and right, publish the tonnes of press releases we are sent every day (and can the Princess of Yaximixche please take this as notice that I do not, and have never wanted, to be on her mailing list). Then all we would need to do is sit back and watch the money roll in. If only I didn't have morals and some form of need for actual creative expression. Oh, and pride in my work....

Trinity Dechou: Please Princess please note, I don't want to be on your mailing list either, and each and every time I email you to say this, you seem to ignore my requests..... Aaaaaanyway I'd have to say another thing I've learned from Rez is that really, honesty is the best policy. Covering places/ events and people in my honest opinion has gained our articles respect, as I mentioned before people linked to articles which they liked, they were perhaps not always in the best light of events but they were done honestly, and not for the sake of drama whoring which has stood us in good stead.

Voodoo Buwan: So, my dear (and for the final time people, we are NOT a couple).... what would you say were your highlights of your time at Rez?

Trinity Dechou: Yes dear...... I must say I have many although I think my main highlight would be the realisation that we, the residents of Second Life, do indeed have the ability to help shape, and occasionally change opinions. I do not have a massive enough ego to say that we do this single handedly at Rez but then I think back to articles such as Dazzle, and Linden Lab's bloody single mindedness to force something onto us which will adversely affect many many residents, our collective joining together and forming informed, intelligent arguments against such changes which have in turn changed the Labs course. Dazzle was altered and an alternative was found, The Void Sim/ Homestead disaster was cushioned to help residents. We do have that ability to make them listen, collectively.

Voodoo Buwan: One of my main highlights of course revolves around what I think I am probably best known for: my interviews. The fact that having a site like Rez behind me allowed me to go up to almost any resident who is doing something interesting in-world, ask if I can have a chat with them about it, and not only be able to use that to shine a spotlight on noteworthy achievements, but also to learn for myself the stories behind some of the biggest successes and innovations going on in the digital frontier-land. Oh and thank you Integral Danton for being the exception to the rule, but your response of "No, that doesn't sound like something I would do" will always make me smile.

Trinity Dechou: I must say that is of course another highlight of my Rez experience. I've met some truly wonderful, and gifted individuals through interviews and general chats about the reporting of SL events. Attendance at the Second Life birthday celebrations has always been a highlight for me, because it was a time to meet similarly minded people and find out about their organisations.

Voodoo Buwan: I guess my other highlight can also be summed up as a tip to other writers: Never EVER listen when you are told that you can't do something. I've had some hair brained "It would be nice if only by some miracle it came together" ideas (for example the advent calendar that required me to find one person called partridge, two people called dove, three called hen, etc; and take pictures of them) and many of them never came together. However, when I did my name survey, and started dishing out questionnaires to all and sundry, I had people going "It'll never work" and "SL residents don't do that kinda thing" and when the responses came flooding back in, I've never been more proud, and it made one of our best articles.

Trinity Dechou: So, as the end draws ever closer it's fair to say we have loved every minute, we've been eternally grateful to everyone's support. It is fair to say this isn't the last you will hear from Trin and Voo, we will certainly not be leaving Second Life, and if anyone has any suggestions on what you think we should do next please feel free to leave a comment or let us know in-world.

Voodoo Buwan: So, I guess all that is left to say is... Say Goodnight Trin

Trinity Dechou: Goodnight Trin ;-)

As regular readers of Rez will know, I am mostly found wandering the Second Life network as a 'normal' human avatar however I do also have a penchant for different avatar shapes notably Loco Pocos and Tinies. It was with this knowledge that fellow Rez writer Voodoo Buwan approached me with his latest discovery, namely the BUBU.

The brainchild of Logan Skytowner and Edge Axel the BUBU avatar is larger than a standard tiny avatar and generally with less of the 'aww' factor mixed in. These are highly customisable avatars which come complete (for the modest fee of 250$L) with all the templates and textures for creating your own skin as well as the exceptionally effective (and cool) spraycan for changing skins. The skins and accessories on the market are all very reasonably priced and offer avatars a different style of appearance.

Armed with my BUBU avatar I headed in the direction of the newly created main store for BUBU where I caught up with Logan Skytowner and Edge Axel, in possibly the most fun interview I've ever done for Rez Magazine, and asked them about the BUBU including the future and possibilities you could experience with one.

Trinity Dechou: Firstly, please explain what a BUBU is and how it came into creation in SL.
Logan Skytower: Well, the BUBU is an avatar, made specifically to create your own distinct, stylized look. It came into creation because I love all those little Vinyl DYI toys, but couldn't get any good ones around where I live, in real life. So I decided to sculpt my own and that's sorta where Edge came in and told me I should make it an avatar.
Edge Axel: Yeah. I was like "LOGAN, DO IT! DO IT, DO IT!" And he's like "Omg, okay! :D"
Logan Skytower: That's basically what it came down to :)

Trinity Dechou: How long has the BUBU been available to buy in SL?
Edge Axel: Seventy-four years!
Logan Skytower: Hahahaha, nice, Edge, nice. It's been available for round about 7 months now.
Edge Axel: Wow - It's sure felt like seventy-four years..
Logan Skytower: Absolutely. It has made me an old, old man.

Trinity Dechou: Had you had any content creation experience in SL before you started to make these avatars?
Logan Skytower: Yeah, loads, actually. Quite early on in SL I started hanging out with Aemilia Case of Philotic Energy and Fusemelon fame and she got me into learning sculpts and making clothing. For about 8 months I had a little clothing store called Felid Disrupt, which basically taught me how to do textures, sculpts, and all those things and that's sorta how I figured out how to make the BUBU. The only thing totally new to me was animation. And scripting, so for that last part I hired a scripter, who is now my steady scripter and also consistently for hire, Lillium Elcar.
Edge Axel: I help to script when I can. I'm not as great as Lillium, though - she's fantastic!
Logan Skytower: I have Edge for my crazy fun scripting, like jumping cars and whatnot, and Lillium for my serious scripting, like how to make an encrypted channel to send the textures over when the spraycan paints the avatar.

Trinity Dechou: So there are also accessories which go along with the BUBU, can you explain a little about what those are.
Logan Skytower: Most accessories so far have been made by Edge Industries, owned by Edge here, like the rideable animals and the BUBU car. I pretty much had nothing to do with that, except help testing them and watching them be built. My own big accessories are only just starting to come out, like the army set. And essentially, it's attachments to help personalize your BUBU. Or vehicles to share the BUBU fun with your friends.
Edge Axel: Yeah - as Logan said; I've got the two rideable animals, the horse and the turtle - those were just experiments I guess. They weren't built to go on sale, but I guess I changed my mind. Oh! And the car. There'll be more stuff, better stuff - I'm still learning. :D

Trinity Dechou: Yeah sure, it's all a learning curve of new experiences with a new product, have you each learned any new skills because of the BUBU and if so what?
Edge Axel: Oh, definitely - I've picked up some sculpting skills and texturing skills - and with scripting, I guess that's a given since everytime you script you're going to pick up something new - more often than not, anyway.
Logan Skytower: That absolutely goes for me, yeah. My sculpting and texturing has had to improve so much during the whole process, to create the things that I had in my head. For instance, looking at the Tier 1 skins, as I call them, the ones you see in the vendors , are now, in my opinion quite bad, especially compared to my new work. And sculpt wise, I've just learned so much, just learning how to do oblong sculpts, to keep prim count down and keep the BUBU lowlag. And of course, animations, like I said before, were completely new territory.
Edge Axel: Oh! Yeah, I'm learning about animating, too! :D

Trinity Dechou: Yeah, talking of the skins, you actively encourage people to make their own skins for the BUBU, can you explain a little about the process behind making skins and why you encourage people to make their own?
Logan Skytower: Ah, well, that was fairly easy for me. I set out to make a DIY toy, turned it into the avatar and through the whole process I just kept in mind that I wanted to keep the idea of it being a DIY avatar.
Edge Axel: I like the fact that people can take a product and then work to make it their own kind of thing, having them add their own style to it. It's nice. :D
Logan Skytower: So, encouraging people to make their own skins comes first and foremost, more than what I make with the BUBU. Granted, I have the advantage of knowing how their made and as such how to take the customization to it's full advantage so, as such, I've made a video of the process of how I go about making a skin and made that into a giant tutorial, which can be viewed in the store. Still, I've seen some people make amazing skins with the BUBU, or just generally do amazing things, like what Edge is working on for his Halloween BUBU, which is an actual transforming Werewolf.
Edge Axel: I'm pretty proud of the werewolf so far. I learnt a lot scripting the transformation. It's far from done, though. Let's just hope I can get it out at Halloween. Haha.
Logan Skytower: And that, to me, just shows how far you can push the BUBU, ya know? That people can just go absolutely nuts on it, completely change their appearance. I get more of a kick out of seeing others work than making something myself.

Trinity Dechou: So by opening it up and allowing others to do their own things and add their own styles the mixture of BUBUs grows and helps you to develop them further perhaps?
Edge Axel: I like the fact that the Bubu can be used as a learning tool, rather than an avatar - too!
Logan Skytower: Oh, absolutely. See, my imagination only goes so far, but for instance, Helena Stringer, another business associate of mine, has made these super cute Cthulhu BUBU's that are just a complete departure from anything I'd ever do, and to see that, and see what she's done with it, to me, just shows the diversity and the enormously broad appeal it can have.

Trinity Dechou: What sort of feedback have you had for the BUBU?
Logan Skytower: Loads, absolutely loads. From people IMing me asking where I got it because it was so cute, to people telling me two, three times a day that I should make this or that skin. Overall, so far, the reception has been amazing. Just, the people who get one seem to love it, since it's also just... a little crazy. It's a strange, tiny, insane avatar with no real limits besides imagination.

Trinity Dechou: And presumably more and more people want to make their own additions and skins for their newly found avatars, roughly do you know how many others are making products for the Bubu?
Edge Axel: I think just about everyone that's picked up a Bubu has at some point made something for it, or modded an existing object to fit it.
Logan Skytower: I know exactly, at the moment. I'm still keeping track of everyone who makes skins. There is, of course, Edge Industries, who makes rideable creatures and vehicles and who knows what else to come. There's Helena Stringer of the Stringer Mausoleum, who makes insane mythical skins for them. There's Erricson Turbo who makes game related skins for the BUBU, besides his own amazing scifi/anime products, he has a Halo skin in 3 colors and a Resident Evil skin. There's Voodoo Buwan, of VooBu Skins who just opened his own little store, selling BUBU skins based on pop culture figures and that's it, really :) And, like Edge said, everyone who got one has at some point modded the BUBU in some form or way, yeah.

Trinity Dechou: Have you faced any hurdles along the way and if so, what?
Logan Skytower: Well, the biggest hurdles have definitely been the learning curve and the finding a place to sell them. I rarely do things small, so not this time either. So I wanted to open with a big store in a nice, big place. Started at VSN, the Virtual Sports Nexus, and due to problems, namely, that sim was closing down, I had to move and went over to Caisteal, FSG, the Furry Sandbox group, and for both these sims I've had to rebuild my store by the owner to "fit more with the style". At first, you take offense to that... but I understood it. It was still a hurdle though. I eventually left Caisteal because it was being rebuilt and it was quite simply taking too long and I was taking a hit, sales wise. And thus, thanks to the Amnesia club, I ended up here, at Stonehaven.
Edge Axel: Yeah, it's a little bit saddening when you need to change your store to fit the sim it's in, though - completely understandable.
Logan Skytower: Which is, why, at some point, I hope to be able to have a BUBU sim, but at the moment, it's just a dream. But we'll get there, I'm sure.
Edge Axel: We dream a lot - we were talking about having a Bubu themed theme-park in said sim. Haha. That's a long way away, though.
Logan Skytower: A long, long way away, yep. But it'd be good. So very, very good.

Trinity Dechou: Nice, Getting a new avatar and brand out into the public in SL can be quite hard, can you explain the ways you've tried to increase the visibility of BUBU?
Logan Skytower: Oh, absolutely. For that, I have to thank Achariya Maktoum, Helena Stringer, Selos Dae, Aikea Rieko and Terry Toland. Achariya just gave me a gameplan, essentially, which was to gain visibility, tease the public, via IHeartSL.com with teaser images. And to contact some "popular" designers to create Limited Edition launch skins, which turned out to become Helena Stringer of Stringer Mausoleum, Aikea Rieko of Plastik and Selos Dae of TRAP skins. And Terry Toland has been blog covering the BUBU from day one, on her own personal blog. Helena managed to get all her groups to show up on launch day and all of that has just been an amazing experience.
Edge Axel: I ran around and threatened people, telling them if they don't buy Logan's product - I'd come to their house and stab them with a potato! ..I'm kidding :D

Trinity Dechou: Obviously it's been very well received by the community and the other designers what's on the cards for the future of BUBU?
Edge Axel: Rocketships, laser-beams, flying squirrels! Yes. We're going there. :D Well, I might - I don't know about Logan.. Hehe.
Logan Skytower: Oof, that's actually a tough question. I don't have a particular path to take the BUBU. I just sorta... make it up as I go. The army stuff was just an experiment, turned out nicely and I released it. Then there's the LoveSuit series which just came out which was a suggestion by a friend, he told me to make it and... yeah. I just sorta do my own thing and hope that people like it and keep liking it. I know one thing on my gameplan at the moment and that is that there are new Limited Edition skins coming, for Halloween.
Edge Axel: I'm hoping aliens will invade. I haven't had any luck convincing Logan yet, though!
Logan Skytower: I have yet to make a proper alien skin, without looking too much like Greenies.

Trinity Dechou: Well thanks guys for a lovely new avatar with great potential for customisation and a wonderfully fun afternoon and interview
Logan Skytower: You too, absolutely, and thank you for interviewing us!
Edge Axel: Thanks a bunch. It's been fun. :D

It can be said that a world like Second Life depends on several key factors; stability and a stable economy are of course key. The Second Life economy will be driven by market factors such as in-world spending, investment in land, and user accounts. New users are a key driving force for Linden Lab and whilst that has received mostly negative feedback from the community about the prioritisation of new members over long standing stability issues, it is clear that new residents are essential to the world’s future. Their ‘new’ money will be the difference that keeps us all in-world or all of us signing up for WoW accounts.

In parallel, it’s an argument by many that real world economies depend, heavily on tourists. A controversial but weighted argument that those lovely happy-snappy photographing tourists that put strain on our transport networks and hold us up on the street when we’re in a hurry are in fact crucial to the area we live and work in. Tourism provides investment and opportunities in areas, and for many parts of the world, that rely heavily on it. Of course this is not everyone’s opinion, many believe the weight of tourists on an area change it and create social and cultural damage in some of the worst cases.

As someone who works in the tourism industry in the real world in a popular tourist destination called Scotland, it’s pretty easy to see which side of the fence I will sit on when it comes to the ‘to tourist, or not to tourist’ debate.

I personally believe there are correlations between the need for tourists and the need for new residents. Allow me, if you will to explain. Tourists arrive in your home town/city with their freshly exchanged currencies, eager and willing to spend this leisure time, and their budget in the shops and stores in the area. This tourist ‘dollar’ helps to fund more jobs, brand growth, training, development, new concepts, and new outlets and of course pay your councils/ governments more taxes. Residents arrive into Second Life, with big eyes preparing to take it all in. Over time, perhaps, even spending money, developing skills, growing a brand, increasing productivity and opening their own store.

It is with this thought in my mind; I feel I must ponder why more RL tourist organisations aren’t open and accessible to Second Life. Oh of course don’t mistake me, some are here, notably Dublin in SL but where are the rest? Since it’s generally thought that holidays are no longer a luxury, but in actual fact a necessity wouldn’t it be wise for these tourist destinations around the globe to ‘sell’ themselves to you their potential tourists?

I think the answer lies in one of two reasons; budgets and bureaucracy. For a long time Second Life has fought a rather ‘seedy’ and pornographic stereotype. Since most tourist organisations in the real world are funded by governments and are ultimately answerable to you their tax payer, there is an unwillingness to venture into the digital world. These organisations, in my experience, are often driven by older, aged, non technical-friendly men and women who are wary of being associated with anything that may damage their image. Let’s face it; on the whole in the real world, Second Life doesn’t have a good image, largely thanks to the editors of newspapers and producers of news shows.

The other very real issue, especially in today’s world, is the questions of budgets. As I mentioned above these organisations are often funded by the tax payer and as such must be able to attribute some income, or at least return, from a virtual world spend. How exactly can you measure how successful your digital Visit Wherever is? Well surely that’s similar to the attribution of how successful an advertising campaign is? Surely Second Life is advertising. With this advertising thought in mind I conducted some research using Real Life media and an example of a Tourist Region pertaining to Scotland.

Obviously it does go without saying that an island in Second Life won’t get 80,000 visitors per day, but it’s also obvious to say that not all of the 34,000 people who saw the tv ad daily actually watched it and were not making a cup of coffee. Similarly one could argue that the 'advert' of Second Life wasn't sat on someone's lap staring them in the face as it would had it been a newspaper advertisement. However it's also tangible that the Second Life map could be aligned with circulation of a newspaper. There is no accessible way to measure how many people could visit a sim in a day, also with potential login screen advertising the message could be placed in-front of everyone logging in at that given time.

On the surface of these indicated figures it certainly seems that Second Life is an attractive advertising entity however we've all seen corporate companies come and go again, there must be a reason for this. Virtual Worlds however, do have distinct advantages over the older forms of advertising media, namely the ability to create replicas for tourist attractions and even accommodation establishments. As technology advances more tourists will plan holidays not only on a flashy website but the ability to experience the destination in a 3D format even before any plane tickets are bought.

So if and/or when will the Tourist organisations around the world see the potential of Second Life as a genuine global advertising platform for their destinations and if so, will they stay in the long term?

Some of you may remember I spoke to Daniel Voyager on the brink of his eighteenth birthday as he prepared to transfer from Teen SL and into the main Second Life grid. At the time Daniel was hopeful and excited about the adventure that he was about to embark on and little melancholy about leaving his teen friends behind. Also at the time there was a lot of discussion about the potential merging of the two grids which of course I asked Daniel about. At the time he said he believed they would be merged and indicated he felt this would be a good move.


I took the opportunity 10 months after his birthday to catch up with Daniel to see his his hopes had been realised and if he still felt the same about the possible grid merge.

When we last spoke you were preparing to move from TeenSL to the main grid can you tell us a little about the process involved for that to happen?

I can't believe it's been 8 and a half months since I transferred from the Teen Grid. The process involved in transferring from TeenSL to the main grid went smoothly and I managed to send my support ticket way in advance before my 18th birthday to be transferred on time. I created a TG transfer status updates page and posts on my blog to countdown the remaining days left in TSL. I spent the last few days doing a final tour of TeenSL and saying my final goodbyes which was very emotional to do. I remember sending my support ticket with my ID on the 11th of December 2008 and then got a reply back from Linden Lab the next day saying my ticket was assigned to the appropriate queue. I checked my ticket early on my birthday and it said "Happy Birthday! I have set the process to transfer you from Teen Second Life to Second Life to run on your next login. Please contact us if there is any difficulty with the transfer. Chiyo Linden!"

I couldn't wait any longer so I closed down my windows and started Second Life straight away. I few minutes later I arrived on the Main Grid, afterwards was teleported over to the TG Transfer Station along with tons of other cool places to meet new friends, SL Mentors and catch up with former TG friends. I was then flooded with IMs (50+), birthday gifts, cakes, notecards, landmarks and SL guides all day long. In the evening many residents set up massive birthday parties just for me and I enjoyed every second of it all. Today I'm known very well on the Main Grid and many do think I'm a celebrity. haha :)

Do you feel there is any way the transition process could be improved?

Yes. The TG Transfer Station located in Baffin needs to be the home location when teens transfer because recent former teen grid residents are saying they have been put in Welcome Areas around the grid. The TG Transfer Station needs to have information kioks and build to be switched on because it's not at the moment for some reason. The TG Transfer Station needs to host parties for new teens transferring turning 18 which would be great to see happen. The Teen Grid transfer groups could become more active by having weekly group notices on new transfers, upcoming parties and more.

What do you miss from Teen SL?

I miss being around my TG friends, blogging about activities happening in TeenSL, exploring, building, uploading snapshots to Flickr and not being able to help out TG educational projects anymore. I miss sending out group notices to educational, news groups and friend groups to let everyone know of interesting TG events and upcoming things in the community. One of things I will miss more than anything is mentoring new teens to the TG community because I loved doing that. Today I still keep in contact though email and messenger services because I wouldn't want to destory the relationships we had.

You said you were looking forward to the new exciting adventure that awaited you in Second Life, has it been such an adventure?

Yes, it has been a exciting new adventure on the Main Grid so far because I've been to hundreds of great places in Second Life. It's been great exploring a new grid which I've never been in before. I have enjoyed visiting Showcase places in Second Life and I have enjoyed attending great events in Second Life over the course of this year. I've been working on exciting projects in Second Life and being able to do things I couldn't do back on the TG. I have enjoyed attending office hours because every week there is always something cool happening. Mentoring on the Main Grid has been awesome helping new residents out at infohubs, welcome areas, help islands and sharing knowlege with them.

Has there been anything that's disappointed you?

Not that I know of because the experience so far has been great.

What sort of reception have you received from the main grid residents?

I have received a happy, fun, relaxed reception from main grid residents since I've been on the Main Grid. When I arrived I was so happy to meet so many cool people and friends. Many friends took me on a tour around the Main Grid on my first week showing me what's what which was great. Others sent me birthday treats, christmas gifts and IMs to make sure I was doing alright in the new big adult world.

Being new into the main grid, but not new to the interface do you believe there is any way the main grid could be improved following your experiences in TeenSL?

I believe there are ways for the main grid to be improved for former tg residents by having regions set up for former tg residents to meet up and have fun in. Having enough information about the main grid is important for former tg residents because many don't know where to start when they arrive on the main grid. This could be done through the TG transfer groups already set up ensuring that teens have the best experience possible when they arrive.
Be inspired! Have fun!

Following your Main Grid experiences do you think TeenSL and the main grid should be merged?

No. I think both grids should remain separate and Linden Lab should spend more attention on TeenSL issues. I changed my mind earlier this year after being featured on a metanomics show about the future of both grids. If the grids were merged together it would cause alot of serious problems and it wouldn't be right at all because it's a bad idea. There will be tons of lawsuits by residents taking action against LL, residents quitting and the TSL community will fall apart straight away. But whatever happens in the coming months or years I hope Linden Lab are making the right decision.

Presumably you've followed my advice and had the builders in laying your newly acquired house. Either that or you ignored my Essential List for Second Life prefabrications and found your very own place. Either way you'll have further tasks ahead of you. One of those tasks is gardening. Yes that's right readers it's time to don those cardigans and slippers and make your parents proud, it's gardening time!

It's true to say that even the most magnificent houses and buildings in Second Life would look naked without some attention to the foliage surrounding them. In order to stop your prized possession looking bare and satisfy yourself that the mortgage is indeed worth it, you should take time, and care to plant your virtual home with the flowers, shrubs and trees that suit it best.

Welcome once more to a Second Life Essential list, this time for the practicing gardeners out there among you all. It's of course wise to point out that there are vast garden centers and options for foliage in Second Life, I couldn't possibly cover them all so I will try my best to offer my personal favourites in order to give you a start!

Heart

Without doubt Dolly & Lilith Heart's Garden Centre is a one-stop shop for the majority of your gardening need. Low prim, high quality plants are on offer on the 6 sims that make the Heart empire. Starting on a mainland sim it's unmistakable the growth Heart has had since it's inception in 2006. One you learn the plants on offer at this immense garden centre you'll begin to notice Heart plants all over the grid. Clearly a popular solution to your gardening needs.

Whether you're looking for Tropical plants to feature in your idyllic beach home, or marshland plants to feature in your very own forest, Heart won't let you down. With Topiaries and Arboretums you can add further depth to your landscaped home. Heart is mostly made of prim plants, there are a few sculpt options here however but the majority of plants and trees are textured prims.

You can purchase plants in many ways at Heart. You can chose to walk along the classically laid out garden centre and purchase plants individually or you can also purchase sets with an additional discount if you're looking for more than one or two plants. There are also vendor walls in place where you can see the offerings in the categories of landscape architecture, rock formations, tropicals, flowers, marshland and trees in one complete place. Fairly new to the offerings at Heart are the Meadow Patches; expanses of flowers helping you cover a larger area with these richly textured plants and all relatively low prim. Also if you're not sure about which plants should go together or not, Heart has some offerings of complete layouts saving you the trouble of placing the prims etc. The prices at Heart are also competitive, allowing you to give your Second Life home a true living, breathing feel.

Botanical

If you have wandered the pathways at Heart and not found what you're looking for, or perhaps you want some sculpts to aid you in adding depth to your gardening in Second Life, then Botanical at Straylight might be the very place for you. Another truly popular location favored by many sim owners, the trees especially are among some of the most realistic you can purchase in Second Life.The area at Botanical is somewhat different to Hearts manicured walkways, and owner Kriss Lehmann chooses to go down the location, location, location theme. You can see all trees and plants in-situ in this beautifully crafted sim. Also there is a central area with all the packs and options laid out for those who want to browse a store rather than a sim.

Botanical does offer a smaller collection of flowers than Heart, favoring more sculpt trees and further landscaping concepts. The sculpt walkways and water on offer at Botanical will help you to recreate mulch walkways and flowing streams on your sim while the particle effects of the Will-o-Wisp and Butterfly emitters will help to add some fantasy to your creations. In addition you can purchase wonderful firefly emitters, light beams, rainbow beams and sound effects depending on the area you're creating.

New Trails

Following on from the sculpt goodness of Botanical the next logical step for gardeners would be New Trails. Situated on another lovingly crafted, landscaped sim, the products on offer here are equal in quality to Heart and Botanical.

Taking a walk towards the shop area through ruined pillars you walk among the trees which help show you one of the reasons I really love New Trails, the textures, especially on the trees feature a wonderful fantasy-esque feel with almost glittering leaves. You can bear witness to another favourite product of mine and that's the light beams. Of course Botanical also features light beams and rainbow beams which move in time with the SL sky, but the menu-driven beams on offer at New Trails offers great diversity in colour and length, adding great depth to the lit areas in your virtual garden.

The shop at New Trails is tastefully located in a greenhouse building and offers you many options when purchasing your plants, even a copyable version for those of you with bigger parcels to cover. The majority of the stock here is a little more on the fantasy edge of foliage than reality, however there are still options for those of you who prefer realism over fantasy. You can even buy Bonsai trees at New Trails and they do look fantastic! Relatively new additions to new trails are the wonderful 1 prim sculpt flowers. Still a small range of those, they will help you cover a larger area if prims are at a minimum.

If you fancy something a little on the quirkier side of realistic garden accessories, then there are a few small places which have some specialized trees and such. Akeyo is one such place. They only in-fact feature one garden piece and it's the topiaries pictured below. They are simply brilliant, and I personally love them. You'll also see them featured in many sims who chose to be a little less mainstream with their planting.

Of course another very popular location is Happy Mood. A wondrous feel good sim, which features some of the most adorable bunnies in Second Life, also has a small yet succinct selection of garden essentials including the gorgeous clock tree which I'm sure will make a fantastic addition if the theme of your house suits it!

If water plays a key point in your landscaping, you might want to check out the options available at Artis Natur brought to you by the Adam & Eve creators Sachi Vixen and Damen Gorilla. There are multiple textured styles for waterfalls and streams at Artis, along with low prim sculpt trees (which you can touch to change the seasons) and wildflower beds with particle emitters for butterflies and bugs.
No matter what your garden theme is, you'll be sure to find something suitable in Second Life, the places mentioned above should hopefully aid you to make a start on your quest to become the next great landscaper.

Finally an impassioned plea. It's very easy to be tempted by textures and full perm sculpt maps the gardening markets appear filled with of late. While these do help in many cases keep costs to a minimum it is also true that many are also lower quality than you'll buy in these Second Life garden zones. While it is true that unplanted lands look barren, it is also true that low quality sculpts/ textures won't help you achieve an atmosphere. Your home, your store, your chill out zone should leave its visitors with an emotion. If it's dark and grungy or a fantasy realm or even a lush woodland forest it all leaves your guests with an emotion, please make sure the lasting memory or your land isn't of low quality.

On occasion it has been known for Second Life residents to be at a loss as to what to do that afternoon or evening with themselves in-world. Sometimes you can feel like you have seen it all and experienced everything Second Life has to offer you. Have you tried games in-world, and no I don't mean the plethora of board game/ hud/ trivia games on offer in the shops, I mean actual interactive, use your mind games. If you've not tried in-world games, MadPea may very well save you from an evening unsure what to do next.


MadPea Productions create interactive games in Second Life and these aren't your average game either. With well thought out and constructed story boards, scripted HUDs, clues, action, mystery and adventure these games have captivated a lot of residents already which has earned MadPea quite a following. Question is when will you join in?

I managed to speak quickly to Kiana Writer, the founder of MadPea about the games and the concept behind MadPea Productions itself.


Can you tell us what the main aim of MadPea Productions is?

Our main goal is to create high quality and exciting content in Second Life. We like to push the limits of the engine and show people what is possible to do. We want to create a community around our games, so that the players are not alone, they can meet like-minded people or get the help if needed.

What game development experience did you have before coming to Second Life?

Hmm.. does it count that I created a Batman board game when I was little? ;) I honestly had none, I'm a real life writer. When I realized that my stories could involve into interactive games and people were enjoying them, I truly found my calling there.

How does a game come together, how it is conceived and converted into an in-world entertainment zone?

We are a bit chaotic here.. usually we start with my story and build the surroundings around it. Sometimes though, one of us creates an amazing build or we have a HUD idea we like to test and then make a storyline to fit that. Our games all include three main elements: it has to have an interesting story, that actually makes sense and is not just a filler to show off some fantastic graphics (sadly I think a lot of games are like that.. :( ), it has to be interactive and it has to be built so that the player loses himself into the whole experience.

Have you faced any complications when bringing a vision into Second Life?

Not really, sometimes we have to make minor changes to the storyline to better fit the platform restrictions. We imagine and build in SL, so we are not facing the difficulties of trying to import the game from another platform to here.


What sort of feedback have you received from the Second Life community?

So far, the feedback has been really great and positive.We have a large group called madpeas, that is really supportive to all members. We love to hear feedback of all kind so that we can improve. Sometimes people don't understand that this is our hobby and that we are doing the games on our sparetime and for free, at times we are getting demands that are just impossible to meet. With thanks to Orange we have had the space to create on their islands. We are hoping to find more real life companies as sponsors to be able to test our ideas and bring out quality entertainment in Second Life. Sometimes sadly, the money is a huge restriction on what we can create. We have even had some of the Lindens playing our games (and of course we've been spying on them then ;) ).

What’s in the pipeline for MadPea?

We have a big event coming on the 26th at our headquarters, where we are revealing some future plans. We have at least one bigger game coming out this summer. Right now, we're all taking a little time off for holidays and for planning the next year.


Wether you're a romantic helping to discover the ending in Firefly, or a would-be Ethan Hunt trying to finish Within, or even a top class sleuth trying to solve the mystery of the Swamp Hotel, if you're the sort of person who enjoys thinking outside the box and solving mysteries then get along to MadPea, I guarantee you won't regret it.

MadPea Productions HQ

*All images reposted with the kind permission of MadPea Productions*

You’ve been in Second Life a while now, you’ve decided to take the plunge and find yourself a home. You’ve bought your land, or found a lovely rental island and paid the tier. You’ve decided you want to be careful of any DIY accidents and splinters ruin your hands so you’re going to buy your Second Life home, but wait… where to go?

Welcome to my personal Second Life essentials for home makers; a small, yet succinct list of my personal recommendations from the filled world of the prefab home.

[ba] barnesworth anubis


Tastefully nestled into a hillside on the Demersal sim is [ba] (barnesworth anubis) without doubt one of the best known names in the world of Second Life prefabrications. With a vast array of residential prefabs and a small, yet growing number of commercial builds, ba offers its visitors good quality in a vast array of styles at reasonable prices.

The shop displays show images and information about the individual prefabs as well as a quick and easy option to teleport to the display in-world, where you can wander through the potential house of your dreams and all without an estate agent chirping it's features in your ear.

Various sizes, costs and prims await you at ba, all explained on the easy to understand vendors. The majority of houses are priced in the 1,000$L - 1,500$L price bracket, some indeed much lower, and similarly a few more expensive. Most of the builds come with copy/mod permissions and an easy to use rezzer for initial placement. Also, most have window tinting and lockable doors etc, although you should always check details thoroughly before parting with your hard earned Lindens.


I took a peek at The Howe Efficiency Home which is one of my favourite ba houses. It makes for an excellent starter home. At only 750$L and 88prims it's perfectly suited for smaller plots.


Trompe Loeil


Connected on the same cluster of sims as ba stands Trompe Loeil. This outfitter isn't just a prefab maker, they also have some landscaping products for sale. Predominant however, of course, are the prefabs on offer here.

Trompe Loeil offers a smaller collection to the likes of ba, however the quality is outstanding. Indeed some prefabs incorporate sculpted prims for maximum prim efficiency and style. The arrival shop features vendors with easy to use teleport to display functions similar to the neighbours at ba.

The styles on offer in this smaller selection are quite unique. You can have a sculpt hobbit home, popular with Lord of The Rings fans or you could chose to live in a rustic Silkhouse. With the varying styles, varying prims and prices follow suit.


Without doubt The Hobbiton home is not only a fantastic quirky house, but also quite an achievement with the plentiful use of sculpts. Priced competitively at 2,000$L and featuring 351 prims the house speaks for itself.


If however you have no delusions of hobbit-ism then perhaps the The Arc - Luxury Lodge is for you. Make no mistakes this isn't your average Second Life prefab. Priced at 12,500$L and engulfing 751 prims this gigantuan building won't suit all. I however have been in love with this building since the first time I ever saw it and had to feature it here.

Scarlet Creative


If however you're the kind of person who enjoys clean lines, with white minimalistic qualities then you should venture no further than ScarletCreative. With a substantial collection of homes most RL architects would be proud of, the minimalist look is one which suits many.

There are various sizes, prim counts and price costs at ScarletCreative so really you would need to venture around this sim to find the build to suit you, and your needs. However as this is a beautifully constructed region, wandering around isn't a hard task.


I'm choosing to feature the Grand Urban Beach House from ScarletCreative. Weighing in with 480 prims and costing just under 14,990$L this is one of the more luxurious homes featured here.

BOTHA ARCHITECTS


You've decided to embrace your inner architect however you're not one for the clean, white line, minimalist look of ScarletCreative. Botha Architects may very well suit your needs. Scattered across 2 sims the architecture here at Botha covers a plethora of styles.

Similarly to ScarletCreative, Botha doesn't have a store with all the build offerings laid out, so you will need to hot foot it along the pathways and explore these sims yourself.

In true architectural fashion, you couldn't describe these houses as low prim. If however prims are not an issue for you, then these meticulously designed homes are filled with many prims furthering the attention to detail. In fact many of the houses come with in built water features or fireplaces.

Featured in the image above are two very different styled buildings on offer at Botha. The Treehouse on the left, complete with 323 prims, and priced respectably at 3,999$L offers home makers another path to take on their search for the ideal home. Meanwhile the house on the right, with a staggering 1,106 prims and priced at a modest 11,000$L is certainly an investment in your future home.

Skye Castles


"An Englishman's home is his castle" - it must be true then that said Englishman shopped at Alex Bader's, Skye Castles.

As quoted in Skye Castles creator, Alex Bader's profile - "Skye Castles - the finest castles in all SL? Only you can decide". I must admit that true to my Scottish Heritage I have seen quite a vast number of Castles in Second Life. People clambering to have a piece of tangible history in this fast paced virtual world. In my personal opinion Skye Castles are the finest castles in Second Life.

Upon arrival at Skye you will be presented with a notecard containing the landmarks to all the build and accessories on offer here. It would be well advised that you store this notecard as it will make exploration of this place a lot easier. With a growing number of castles, and pavilions, tower houses and even a bridge it's no wonder that Skye Castles stretch over a number of sims.

From the dark depths of Skye Gothic Castle through the Skye Deco Castle and into the Skye Steampunk Castle the collection here can only be described as eclectic.

Nipping on the heels of 1,000 prims stands the Skye Faery Castle and at a cost of 15,000$L it is a substantial expense but then it IS a castle! One major advantage of the Faery Castle is the selection of accessories you can purchase to decorate it. From the Faery Watchtower, to the Faery Bed and even a Faery Bridge which all go hand in hand to compliment this building on arrival at your home.


Even the relatively dormant steampunk in me is aroused by the Steampunk Castle here. Also costing 15,000$L and charging off with 842 precious prims this building uses the best of it's included scripts to create a quirky steampunk experience. Panel opening doors and a rotating sphere system driving outer cogs which all go hand in hand to make more than just a home it’s an experience!

Hydro Homes


Ok so you've looked at my recommendations and decided you don't want to live your Second Life in a castle, or clean minimalist home. You haven't found anything at Barnesworth Anubis or Trompe Loeil so what now?

Well perhaps you're someone who wants a little funk in their modern living. If that's the case then go along to Hydro Homes.

You'll arrive in a clean functional store with vendor images and all the information you'll need about prim counts and costs. I find the layout at Hydro very helpful, the builds themselves are split into categories dependent on the size of parcel they require. Starting at 499$L for 512 sqm homes increasing to a maximum 1,999$L for 2048 sqm builds you'll find the houses here all priced very reasonably.

Venturing towards the daylight you will be presented with 3 levels to rise too and take advantage of the temp rezzing platforms to view your potential homes. With clear instructions you can see which platform is in use or free and up, up and away you go.

The Enigma is a clear representation of what you can expect at Hydro Homes. A curvaceous building with plenty of interesting features which will help to set your home out from some of the other prefabs available in-world today. In the largest size category this build utilises 307 prims and will cost you 1,999$L, well spent in my opinion.


That completes my tour of some of the best Prefab makers in Second Life at the moment. The Second Life prefab world is a humongous world, the market is flooded with options for you when you purchase your virtual home. It pays to spend time investigating the options open to you before making your decision. Hopefully as I believe these establishments stand out from the others, this list will give you a good place to start.

There is only a relatively small select group of people who have actually made a career from Second Life. That is either people who work in Second Life or those content creators fortunate enough to bring some very real profits from their given venture which, in turn, make a difference to their real life.

All things considered, generally speaking, when we think of a Second Life career it's usually a job that we love and therefore that we dedicate time too. Wether it be a career in virtual journalism or torturing prims into whatever you've decided to make that day, it's safe to say that very few people make any money from their Second Life career.

Undoubtedly the virtual world of fashion is a highly demanding fast-paced one. Couture comes in and out of fashion in Second Life as quickly as it does in real life, of course the real difference is that for many of us Second Life fashions are much more affordable than those of the real world. There is a plethora of fashion orientated blogs and magazines in second life and for many of the top bloggers/ writers they can hold the key to a product, or brands visibility and success rate. With that in mind I set out to speak to one of the biggest and best known fashion bloggers, Ana Lutetia about her career as a model, and blogger, including the highs and lows which come from her chosen career path.


What made you want to be a Second Life model?
I don't remember when or how it started. It just did. I remember deciding that I wanted to be a model inSL and I started looking for agencies and opportunities. Nowadays, I am more a (fashion) blogger and a magazine writer than a model. My RL European work schedule is not compatible with the majority of SL events.

When did you realise that you were a well known model/blogger?
I don't consider myself a well-known model. I realised I was a well-known fashion blogger when people would IM me around SL saying that they love my blog. Nowadays, I must be one of the oldest fashion bloggers around.


What, if any, have been the experiences of this ‘fame’ (good and bad)?
In the catwalk, I was always surprised to see people knowing my name and it still amazes me to get feedback of people saying that they know my work (mostly about my work as a blogger).
The good part is making friends. Some people that follow my work contact me and we start talking and became friends.
I love blogging. I am a addict blogger and if it wasn't for my blog I wouldn't log as often as I do.
It's weird to get random friendship offers and random offers from people...
The bad part is the jealousy involved that results in nasty anonymous comments in my blog and in some SCD SL Secrets. I call it jealousy because I can't think of a better word and because there is no reason whatsoever for anyone to have any issue with me mostly because I don't get out much and don't socialize. (I simply can't find time to do it all.) So the majority of people don't know me in a personal basis and only know me through my blog.
Some people don't realise the hours of work involved for being a fashion blogger and mainting a website updated daily. There are only a few bloggers that keep their blogs updated daily...
On occasion, I feel the fashion blogging pressure and that makes me very anxious. A lot of people send me gifts as well as review copy items and I simply don't have the time to blog it all even though I wish I had but it's impossible. I am only one person and it takes me around two hours (sometimes more) to make a simple post. And... the time I have to be inSL daily is only between two or three hours.

Are there any trends in the fashion world you personally like/dislike?
Personally, I don't like the new freebie and hunts trend. I believe that a lot of designers feel an obligation to release freebies and to participate in hunts. What about the hours spent by designers creating an item?
The sense of entitlement of freebies is bad too.

Do you have any suggestions for budding fashion stars that are starting out now?
Nowadays there are two many fashion bloggers and models and I encourage people to learn another skill like building, texturing or scripting because the fashion world can be overwelming and people will need a break from it.


*All images reposted with the kind permission of Ana Lutetia*
More information about Ana Lutetia can be found on http://analutetia.com